#new developer

free to play and yes i know its on google docs im sorry I had no idea where else to upload this to, it had too many files for itch :( for those who don't know yet this is my mermay video game! just a game im trying to make over the course of mermay as a challenge thing me and a few of my readers are doing in the discord chat to make a cool creative concept for mermay. mines based on the prompt 'marine biologist' In this game you play as a sort of go-between for merfolk and human relations at an aquarium that often helps merfolk in need in the area as well as doing other aquarium duties

Its a visual novel and it has a LOT of endings and I will state theres special endings and diologue you get based on whether or not you laugh at Nikko's jokes at the beggining.

It's my first full game and I admit its also the thing that got me trying to do backgrounds. expect later releases to include visual changes and better art as well as improved sprites

theres a lil game in there like dressing up your little guys (sadly i cant figure out how to keep them in the costumes you put them in but at least you can put them in cute outfits) (you later unlock more options as well as another character to dress up by the second time going shopping)

and lots of fun antics with the characters :)

you do have to go down every route to get all the lore

and unlike most dating sims you dont really have the usual setup for building character relationships its more so a chose your own adventure style dating sim

theres a platonic route thats fully fleshed out too and is meant to be just as compelling as the romantic routes and the game is ENTIRELY SFW though there is mention of murder and possible cannibalisim amongst merfolk. mention of large storms. but its mostly a chill game where you get to befriend merfolk and your human companions

theres nikko, the human marine biologist who loves puns and is trying his best to be your friend

Nanonari the moon jellyfish emperor of the waters who has lost all faith in himself

and ketsueki the strange black tipped reef shark terrestrial biologist and human researcher

he cries a lot please be gentle with him If any other game developers or gamers know good websites for uploading your games (pay or for free) where theres an in browser feature especially id love that. I'm considering using GOG since I prefer their business practices (from what little ive seen) for things (if you havent checked out gog its just as legitimate as steam , ea games, etc. but it doesnt do the stuff with forcing you to be online to play, if i remember correctly its also the only place you can really get acess to the spore online services properly anymore (or easily? i think) and just generally feels a lot friendlier

things the game needs now: more soundtracks

more sound effects (considering trying to record myself playing my trusty slide whistle for several, several things ketsueki does. that shark just will not stop moving-)

Screenshots

Hey there!

Against all odds, I got a good amount of work done this week and have some fun new progress to show for it.

The Yurei is complete! This deadly spirit will lash out with claw swipes and bursts of flame. The Yurei will also enter an 'aggressive' mode after taking a certain amount of damage allowing it to track and chase down the player. The player will have to use teleporting and counterattacks to efficiently defeat it. The Yurei won't be featured until later in the Yokai forest though, giving players the chance to practice combat mixed with teleporting.

This week was also spent polishing up code and making plans for the last big item that I need to complete for the Yokai Forest. More on that next week! In the meantime, enjoy Mizuki hanging out with some residents of Yokai Village!

Hello!

It's Saturday, and that means it's time for a devlog post (even though I posted one yesterday).

A lot of this week's work has been spent on getting the devlog along with other stuff up and running. Thank goodness all that is over with!

I've been working on polishing up the sprites for the 5th enemy in the Yokai Forest, the Yurei! For a bit of background, the Yurei is a yokai that is essentially a vengeful spirit that is sometimes accompanied by will-o-wisps. The Yurei seems passive when the player approaches it but can quickly become a dangerous enemy when provoked.

Here are some gifs of the animations that I've been working on. Still need to animate the will-o-wisps on the attacking sprite. The Yurei also has a 2nd, much more devastating attack that I'm still working on. I hope to show it off next week! I'm also working on updates for the player attack system to make it a bit faster paced.

Speaking of next week, I'll be attending FanX in Salt Lake City! If anyone from FanX sees this, welcome! I hope you stick around :)

Hello and good evening!

This week has been pretty crazy with FanX and all that happening. If anyone from FanX sees this, welcome!

This week I finished polishing up the Yurei, but ran into some coding bugs before everything was finished. So all you guys get this week is some finished Yurei sprites. I'll probably do a little post in the middle of next week when the bugs are worked out of the Yurei code.

Here we have the Yurei 'Rage' attack. Whenever the player lands a hit on the Yurei's Will 'O Wisps, it does triple the damage! However, this allows the Yurei to release a power counterattack that can deal some big damage if you don't avoid it. Look forward to seeing more next week!